the story, the woman in tampa who triggered the e-mail investigation, that started it all. and the president in his second term, showing real anger as the member of his team comes under attack. did we just get closer to war in the middle east? israel kills a major figure in the sky. both sides are ready for retaliation. and making a difference for those who lost so much, including their classrooms. nightly news begins now. good evening, the woman who started it all, the investigation into a chain of e-mails that led to the resignation of the cia director, former four-star general, david petraeus, is tonight telling more of her side of the story through a surrogate. for the first time we're learning why she says she felt the need to approach the fbi and ask them to investigate the

communications she was receiving. jill kelley of tampa, florida, is now a big part of the story involving several big names. tonight, she is clearly attempting to clear her own. we begin here tonight in the studio with nbc's andrea mitchell, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian, tonight, new details emerged on how the anonymous e-mails that paula broadwell sent to a tampa woman, who knew the two generals, david petraeus and john allen even as the president for the first time today spoke about the scandal. at his news conference, the president went out of his way to praise petraeus. >> he has provided this country an extraordinary service. we are safer because of the work that david petraeus has done. >> reporter: as paula broadwell remained in washington and staying with her brother and still not talking, officials say the investigation was triggered

in may, when general john allen received an e-mail called "kelley patrol." sources say they said stay away from her, sources close to him said she could ruin him allen she had not sent the e-mail but was concerned she was stalked or electronically hacked, referring to a meeting that she and general allen that she and general allen scheduled. sources say they received four different e-mails, telling jill, she is up to no good, asking him, do you know what your wife is doing when she has different with general petraeus?

officials say the e-mail had enough inappropriate information . >> the general is doing enough work leading the forces, he certainly has my continued confidence to lead the forces and continue the fight >> reporter: also today, they looked into documents they took from broadwell's home, but so far found no evidence of any importance but today, broadwell's security clearance was suspended. and jill kelley's pass to the base was revoked. tonight, a statement was issued that general allen intends to fully cooperate with investigators and wants to resolve questions about the e-mails as quickly as possible. pentagon officials say that he is still running the war in afghanistan, but it could affect his nomination. also, nato has confirmed the

name of the person involved. described as a veteran agent. frederick human ry -- humphreys, the second now back to the president's new conference today which covered a lot of ground and at times got both heated and personal. our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd is with us for it, from the white house. >> reporter: good evening, despite predictions to the topic, no one topic dominated the back and forth. he didn't have a lot to say on the petraeus scandal he was asked to respond to a criticism from an old rival, john mccain. >> good afternoon, everybody. >> reporter: he was aloof, and at times, confident. and an aggressive president obama in his first press conference since winning a second term. his main goal, making a case that the public support fully the tax hike othe rich. >> everybody understood that that was an important debate,

the majority of voters agreed with me, by the way, more agreed with me on the issue than voted for me. >> reporter: he also made clear that the bush tax cuts for the top 2% will go away, but left new wiggle room on how it would be determined. >> what i am not going to do is extend further tax cuts for people who don't need it. >> reporter: he encouraged growing common ground between the two parties. >> i'm open to compromise and new ideas. >> reporter: after an opening statement, mr. obama immediately faced questions on how the petraeus scandal affected his white house. >> i have no evidence at this point from what i've seen that classified information was disclosed that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security. >> reporter: and the president refused to pass judgment on the investigation. >> i am withholding judgment on how the entire process surrounding general petraeus

came up. >> reporter: the real fireworks came when the president was asked about negative comments from republican senators on the possibility that u.n. ambassador susan rice could become secretary of state. >> we'll do everything to block the nomination within our power as far as susan rice is concerned. >> i don't trust her -- and the reason i don't trust her is because i think she knew better, and if she didn't know better she shouldn't be the voice of america >> reporter: he referred to rice's appearance on "meet the press" days after the benghazi attack. >> but this is a spontaneous reaction to a video. >> reporter: today, the president was visibly angry. >> if senator john mccain, and senator graham and others want to go after somebody they should go after me. but for them to go after the u.n. ambassador, who had nothing to do with benghazi, and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received, and to hurt her

reputation, is outrageous. >> reporter: overall, though, he was congenial and reflective. >> i'm more than familiar with all the literature about the presidential overreach in second terms >> on the other hand, i didn't get re-elected just to bask in re-election. >> reporter: while the president had some tough words for his old presidential rival, john mccain, he actually was very conciliatory towards mitt romney and reiterated his hope they would sit down, saying there were a lot of ideas that mitt romney said on the campaign that he agrees with. >> chuck todd, thank you, and after that moment you saw that senator john mccain went right out on the senate floor and shot right back at the president. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more for us. >> reporter: good evening, brian, this is really the latest chapter in what is a contentious history between the president and john mccain. and so after the news conference, john mccain went to the senate floor for his own

televised rebuttal, taking on the president and the future of ambassador rice. >> if the president thinks that we are picking on people, he really does not have any idea of how serious this issue is. >> reporter: serious enough that some republican senators stepped forward after the president's news conference, repeating their vow to stop president obama from nominating u.s. ambassador rice from becoming the next secretary of state. >> she has says this was not a pre-planned attack, why was that done? >> reporter: for weeks, the republicans have expressed their anger with rice, urging her to explain the appearances regarding the video and the protest over benghazi. >> this is in response to a hateful video. >> i have grave concerns.

answers from ambassador rice before i could support her for any position. >> this president and this administration has either been guilty of colossal incompetent acts or engaged in a cover-up, neither of which are acceptable to the american people. >> reporter: also today, mueller and joyce briefed the top commanders on the scandal involving petraeus. the acting cia director, morrell, was also here for private meetings the big expectation tonight is that petraeus himself will come forward to testify about the benghazi attack, not his own troubles, as early as tomorrow or friday. now there are some differences among republicans about what is the best way to get to the bottom of what happened in benghazi, some say the current investigations are sufficient. but john mccain and others are calling for a watergate-style with broader authority to investigate. kelly o'donnell, thank you. as we mentioned, the president

was conciliatory towards mitt romney. mitt romney, for his part, has laid low with his family since the loss. but today, his post-campaign remarks are surfacing. he was on a conference call with major donors today. what he said about what went wrong is already getting some attention tonight. nbc's peter alexander just back after covering the campaign, here with us in the studio. >> reporter: brian, good evening, as you know this conference call just wrapped up hours ago, governor romney blamed this defeat on what he described as big gifts that the president had given to some of the democrats most loyal voting block. he called it the old play book rule with specific interest groups. he said with regard to young people, a forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift.

he added free contraception was very big with college-aged women. and finally, he said obama-care made a difference, likewise with hispanic voters, health care was a big plus. he is scheduled to meet with top advisers tomorrow night. one thing is sure in terms of his future. he said the donors may play a part in helping him select the next republican nominee, but it won't be romney, he said. >> just off the trail, peter alexander, about to get much-needed rest, thank you for being with us. overseas there is serious concern that a new war in the middle east just became more likely, after the israelis took out the top commander of hamas in a tough attack. instantly released on video. our report from martin fletcher in tel aviv

>> reporter: here in benghazi, is the military commander of hamas, he was, is, top of israel's hit list for years. accused of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of israelis. he was killed on the spot. israeli leaders say it is the start of a new offensive, including assassinations against the militant leaders. war planes attacked gaza at least 20 times, killing two more of the drivers on bikes, and two killed here, several injured, including children israel says it had no choice after palestinians in gaza fired at least 100 rockets at israel in the last five days. >> no country would sit by idly and see its civilian population targeted this way. neither will israel. >> reporter: in gaza, they were determined to fire rockets at tel aviv, they say that israel has opened the gates of hell.

palestinians have fired rockets at least 13 rockets in israeli towns, no serious damage. israelis warn they could expand the operation, including a ground invasion. and there could be more of this. the army warned that no hamas operatives should show their faces above ground in the days ahead. martin fletcher, nbc news, tel aviv. still ahead, as we continue, the tragic death of a mother sparks the outcry, on the most emotionally charged issue of the day. and later, making a difference for children who just lived through one of the hardest weeks of their young lives.

the death of a pregnant woman has prompted some real soul-searching tonight in ireland. ireland has almost completely outlawed abortions. but the death of an indian woman who had lived there for several years has a lot of people saying it is time for change, and the volume there is getting louder. our report from nbc's jim maceda. >> reporter: tonight, anger and tears in the streets of dublin, as hundreds of mostly irish women protested a death they say could have been stopped this woman from india, savita halappanavar, recently seen here, marking a hindu festival and expecting their first child.

she was 17 weeks pregnant in late october, when she came to the hospital here complaining of severe pain. when doctors told her she would miscarry her child, they pled for an abortion, but were refused because the fetus still had a heartbeat, this is a catholic country, they were told. in fact, ireland is less of a catholic country. as immigrants like savita change the country days later, she died. he described their last desperate moments. >> they were trying to pump her heart, the doctor just told me we lost her. >> reporter: her death has started up a heated debate on abortion in ireland where decades of confusing laws say abortion is illegal, unless the mother's life is in danger. but the government never offered guidance on the specific risks that leave a life in danger, leaving doctors afraid to perform such surgeries. even in extreme cases, like

savita's >> we have lived with this for 30 years, do something about it. >> reporter: but despite more government promises, many irish tonight are asking how many more women will die before ireland's abortion laws are changed. jim maceda, london. coming up, one of the world's best known landmarks has arrived. things moved so quickly

around here, just last night we told you this year's rockefeller christmas tree had survived sandy in the new jersey suburbs and was being cut down by a nice man. well, this morning, we looked out the window and it was being put up. we all hope that dad made sure the base of the tree was in the stand straight this year either way it will be lit on november 28th.

and the high intensity tv chef with the spiky hair highlights, and the food show, and the fancy car celebrating american food has been ripped apart for the food he is serving at his new restaurant in times square in new york. in perhaps the nastiest and most sarcastic restaurant review ever, the new york times joined others criticizing the place, criticizing him as a chef, and saying it was not a proper restaurant, criticizing the drinks, the food, among other items such as the drinks others were worried about food poisoning and warned of food that tasted of asphalt. we reached out to guy fieri to get his story, but for now he declined comment. >> and now something a big more abstract and this is about a painting, you either like the

colors of rothko or don't but somebody liked this one a whole lot. this 1954 painting called number one royal red and blue at over nine feet tall went for $75 million here at an auction in new york city last night. up nex making a difference for children's lives suddenly changed in a big way by the storm.

ahmed jab humphries humph we're back a for our "making a difference report" tonight. it may take a disaster like hurricane sandy to make kids feel how much they miss school. a lot of families have been uprooted, and neighbors are contributing as much as they can to get their sense of security back. our report tonight from nbc's rehema ellis. >> reporter: second graders from two schools in one classroom, brought together by disaster. >> hurricane sandy was like a tornado. and a storm. >> reporter: more than 400 students from this school on staten island have been relocated to the nearby petriti school. the principal of ps-52 says the generous people are overwhelming.

>> this will allow them to heal more quickly. >> reporter: to make it happen took a village. >> everybody is absolutely working together from the custodians, to the security staff, the kitchen, the school aides, power professionals. >> reporter: conference rooms are now makeshift classrooms. lessons take place in the library one classroom serves as a supply store. from lunch boxes, to backpacks, to rulers, everything here is donated, available to students and teachers, free of charge. did you have one of these before? >> i actually did. >> reporter: technology company 1 e spent the day surprising students who lost the most. this 12-year-old remembers when water rushed into his house and he climbed over a fence to safety. did you think you would get out okay? >> no, i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: what does it mean to you, santiago? >> it is very special to me. >> reporter: why?

>> because i had nothing, and now i have a lot of friends and people that care about me. >> reporter: frightening experiences and incredible loss make these gifts even more meaningful. >> thank you. >> reporter: moments of joy, as people work together to lift kids' spirits. >> i think they're like angels. >> reporter: rehema ellis, new york. >> this terrible storm has brought out some great people and we will keep telling their stories. that is our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for joining us, i'm brian williams, and of course, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

his daughter's killer facing more charges. the exo dus continues, more veteran police officers are voluntarily turning in their badges coming up. and the new concern in one daly city neighborhood after a massive mudslide. good evening and thanks for joining us. >> i'm jessica aguirre. his daughter's accused killer facing more charges for crimes committed years before her